THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) on Monday gave tobacco companies 90 days to comply with an administrative order requiring the printing of graphic warning on cigarette packs to show the ills of smoking.In a press conference in Taguig City, Health Secretary Esperanza I. Cabral said Administrative Order 13, issued last May 12, is effective immediately with administrative sanctions facing violators to include seizure and product recall.
She said the department has drawn up eight designs of picture warnings which are being reproduced for distribution to tobacco companies. The pictures that would be printed on the side of the government warning against smoking show acquired ailments such as cancer.
Ms. Cabral said tobacco companies have the option to either bear the labeling cost or reflect it through higher retail prices.
“We’d love for these companies to pass on the costs of labeling to consumers. It would serve as an additional deterrent to stop them from buying these goods,” she added.
She noted that taxes from tobacco products reach P30 billion a year, but this pales in comparison to health expenses for smoking-related diseases and ailments worth at least P200 billion.
"Smoking is a right of a person. But so is the right to information to know what are the hazards of this vice,” the Health secretary said.
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